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Hope, humanity, and Huntington’s disease in Latin America
The Lancet Neurology, Volume 12, Issue 2, Pages 133 – 134, February 2013Original Text Adrian Burton
Latin America—and Venezuela in particular—is home to the world’s largest, most studied, and often most resource-challenged populations affected by Huntington’s disease. The aim of Factor-H, a newly launched humanitarian project, is to improve the social conditions of people living with Huntington’s disease across the continent. But why could this project also be important in the search for a cure? Adrian Burton reports.

A thrilling tango concert in the Sheraton Hotel, Mendoza, Argentina—what could this event have to do with the lives of people affected by a movement disorder living in the shanty towns around Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo?………………“Latin America has a special place in the history of Huntington’s disease………”

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Neighborhood socioeconomic status and stroke mortality

Disentangling individual and area effects

Neurology 2013, 80:1-2

1. Luciano A. Sposato, MD, MBA, FAHA and

2. Olivier Grimaud, MD

+ Author Affiliations

1. From the Stroke Center at the Institute of Neurosciences (L.A.S.), University Hospital, Favaloro Foundation, Buenos Aires; Vascular Research Institute at INECO Foundation and Stroke Clinic at INECO (L.A.S.), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Laboratory of Neuroscience (L.A.S.), Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile; French School of Public Health (EHESP) (O.G.), Rennes; and INSERM (O.G.), UMRS 707, Research Group on the Social Determinants of Health and Healthcare, UPMC, University of Paris 6, Paris, France.
Socioeconomic status (SES) is a multidimensional concept comprising a variety of interacting factors that influence health in a dynamic manner over the entire lifespan. When looking at its association with health, the quasi-universal pattern is that of increasing level of morbidity as SES decreases, and stroke is no exception.1,2 In the last 3 decades evidence has accumulated showing how both individual and neighborhood SES independently affect stroke incidence.3–6 A combination of adverse lifestyle factors, detrimental physical and social environments, and perhaps lower access to primary health care are likely to contribute to this excess risk. Several studies, including that of Brown et al.7 in this issue of Neurology®, have looked at survival poststroke as a function of SES. This question is of importance; are the consequences of stroke also borne disproportionately by the poor the way that stroke occurrence is?